The final Ultimate Fighting Championship Pay-Per-View of 2021 arrives this Saturday, with two title fights topping the UFC 269 card.
In one, lightweight champion Charles Oliveira was set to make the first defense of his newly won title. “Do Bronx” was the unlikeliest of champions, seemingly an also-ran in the promotion’s deep 155lb division. Then, after putting together an impressive winning streak while mostly flying under the radar, Oliveira shocked Michael Chandler earlier this year to claim the belt vacated by Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Opposite the Brazilian submission machine will be Dustin Poirier, once again looking to claim the undisputed lightweight crown after winning an interim title previously. Poirier deferred this shot at gold in favor of the Conor McGregor trilogy; if that gamble pays off on Saturday, Poirier will have successfully pulled off his own underdog-to-champ story, having cashed in along the way.
In the co-main event, meanwhile, Amanda Nunes was returning to defend her bantamweight title for the first time in two years. At UFC 269, she was facing Julianna Pena, who had been gunning for the champ for the better part of 2021. After two straight title defenses at 145lbs, how would Nunes look?
On Thursday, the key players converged for a final promotional push with the UFC 269 pre-fight press conference. Tune in for the live stream above starting at 8PM ET.
